Mohamed Salah scored his 10th goal in opening day fixtures in the English Premier League, but left the Anfield pitch in tears after an emotional and incident-packed 4-2 win for Liverpool against Bournemouth. Salah, who scored Liverpool‘s fourth in injury time to give the scoreline a deceptively comfortable look, broke down in tears as he applauded the Kop, which was belting out chants in memory of Diogo Jota, who tragically died in a car crash in early July.
Liverpool’s players had kept their composure through the pre-game celebration of Jota’s life, but Salah was not the only one to exit the game in tears. The minute’s silence before kick-off featured a giant “DJ-20” mosaic on the Kop, and an “AS-30” in the Kenny Dalglish Stand in memory of Andre Silva, Jota’s younger brother who also passed away in the accident.
The champions appeared to have the game sealed with goals either side of half time from Hugo Ekitike and Cody Gakpo, only for Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo to restore parity with two brilliantly taken goals. But just as the visitors thought they had salvaged a draw, Federico Chiesa, on as a substitute in the 82nd minute, lashed home after a penalty box melee to put Arne Slot’s side in charge of their destiny again.
Salah’s beautiful strike with his weaker right foot merely made sure of the points on a night that also saw plenty of controversy.
Bournemouth’s Marcos Senesi should’ve been sent off for a 13th-minute handball which the referee, Anthony Taylor, didn’t spot and which the VAR bizarrely deemed not clear. The other flashpoint came when Semenyo complained to the referee of racist abuse from a member of the crowd. Taylor stopped the game and spoke to both managers before a public announcement was made at half-time.
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